Bloodstains
by Friezaess
Summary: PG13 just in case. Something's bothering Heero. Does it have something to do with the last mission he and Duo completed? Speaking of which, where IS Duo?!


_~*BLOODSTAINS*~_  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Gundam Wing'; Sunrise, Bandai and Sotsu Agency do. These characters are used without their permission.  
  
Author's note:  
*Astricts* indicate thoughts.  
~Squigles~ indicate beginnings and ends of flashbacks.  
  
Special thanks to my mate Seawave for helping me with this fic! Go read her stuff when ya get the chance :P  
  
  
_~*~_  
  
"Death is something that each and every one of us has to face at one point or another in our live. The Bible states that..."  
Ms. Nilmark paused in her lecture as a late student walked in the door, and took his seat at the back of the classroom.  
"It's good to see you back at school, Mr. Yuy," the teacher commented. "It would be nice if you could arrive on time, though. Religious Education is a very important subject, you know."  
*Yeah, right. *  
"Will Mr. Maxwell be joining us today?" When she received to reply from her pupil, Ms. Nilmark continued with her lecture. That particular boy rarely spoke, anyway.  
  
Heero glanced around the classroom. The other students didn't seem to be paying much attention to what their teacher was saying - after all, Religious Education was a pretty monotonous subject. Duo often commented on how pointless it was. Not two weeks ago, the empty desk next to Heero had been occupied by the boisterous, violet-eyed pilot with whom he had been attending the school. They had been given a relatively easy mission - pose as students, get close to the OZ base, then wipe it off the face of the Earth. It was nothing they hadn't done before.  
  
~Flashback...~  
  
"So, is that the base we're supposed to be attacking?" The self-proclaimed Shinigami asked through the com-link between his Gundam and Heero's.  
"Yes," the 01 pilot replied. "It's a bit bigger than the last one we destroyed, but it's not guarded very well, so it should be pretty easy to annihilate."  
"Hey, I'm not complaining - I scored a week off school for this!" Duo laughed as the pair stealthily began to close in on their target. "At least we don't have to go in and plant bombs around the place like last time. Man, those guys opened fire on me!"  
"If you hadn't accidentally knocked the 'Play' button on that damned Walkman of yours, they'd never have known you were there."  
"Alright, alright, let's just get this over and done with."  
"Roger that."  
Both Gundams paused mid-air for a moment, readying their weapons. Then, driven by an ambition that only soldiers know, they descended upon the base, all guns blazing.  
  
~~~  
  
The perfect soldier tapped his pen rhythmically against his desk, glancing up at the clock. 9:40 am. *The school bell should be ringing right about... *  
~BRIIIIIIIIING!~  
*...now*  
All the students in the class stood up from their desks and packed up their books, scrambling out the door like rats from a sinking ship, disregarding any orders to read pages from the Bible for homework. Heero followed in a similar fashion, trudging down the halls towards period two. At least he would be on time this time. He walked in the door and took his usual seat, waiting to receive instructions to work.  
  
A red-haired girl sat down at the desk in front of him, turning around as to speak to the undercover soldier.  
"Hey Heero, it's been a while!" She spoke, a smile plastered on her face. "Where have you been this past week and a half? Were you sick?"  
"Busy," came the non-chalant reply, as the silent soldier fiddled around in his pencil case. The girl in front of him, whose name was Tsuko, had often times waved to him as they passed each other on the way to class, sometimes attempting to strike up a conversation. She obviously had a crush on him, which Heero was none too happy about.  
*Just what I need- another Relena.*   
"Oh. Well, I hope you're feeling better now." Tsuko shuffled in her seat uncomfortably, trying to think of something else to say. "You and that Duo guy hang out together, right? Is he here today?"  
Heero shook his head. As luck would have it, the girl was soon distracted from her 'conversation' with the anti-social boy as her friends entered the class room, taking the seats beside her.  
  
Thankful that he could spend the rest of the lesson in peace, Heero turned his attention to the teacher standing at the front of the class, who was furiously scrawling various notes and formulae across the blackboard. Physics class was even worse than Religion. After all, as a soldier trained in all methods of combat and mechanics, the Wing Zero pilot probably knew more about this subject than the teacher. Once again, he found his mind drifting...  
  
~Flashback...~  
  
"Shit! They've got back up!" Duo cried, as a fleet of enemy Virgo suits descended upon them.  
"Looks like your calculations weren't as accurate as you said, huh Mr. Perfect Soldier?"  
"Shut up and fight," Heero retorted, shooting at the enemy. The base was obviously more heavily guarded than he had once thought - in fact, the Virgos that were attacking seemed to be more advanced than the usual ones. OZ had seemed to have made a few alterations to the model, and even though the two Gundanium suits were by far more superior, the sheer number of enemy mobile suits were slowly driving them back. And all this whilst the Gundam pilots were trying to destroy the base.   
  
Something had to be done.  
  
~~~  
  
"Can I see your homework, please?" The Physics teacher asked, standing in front of the young soldier's desk, snapping him out of his daydream.  
"I've been away," he answered, monotone as ever.  
"Oh yes, that's right." The elderly man shoved his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "You and Duo have missed out on quite a bit of school. I suggest you take notes from some of the other students, and if you happen to see Duo, tell him we have an exam coming up in two weeks time."  
"Yes Sir."  
Heero watched as the teacher went about his task of checking homework. Exams? No big deal. He would be checking both himself and his comrade out of the school that very day - now that the mission had been completed, there was no reason for them to keep attending.  
  
The Wing Zero pilot sighed and started copying down the notes written on the blackboard, for the sole purpose of keeping himself busy. But no matter how hard he tried to stay focused, he could not shake the unfamiliar feeling that had been following him around like a shadow ever since the end of the mission.  
  
The bell rang just as the perfect soldier had finished writing down what was on the blackboard. Heero moved out with the rest of the class, most of which were eager to get to morning tea. This school provided no distraction or interests for him whatsoever. On a whim, he walked out of the school, intent on finding some kind of relief for the unwelcome feeling that seemed to plague both his mind and his soul.  
  
~Flashback...~  
  
Deathscythe Hell brought its blazing green scythe down upon Virgo after Virgo. Wing Zero seemed to radiate bullets as it ploughed through mobile suits, taking out a large section of the base with them.  
"Duo, what is your status?" Heero questioned.  
"Uh, these guys seem to be pretty set on kicking my ass," came the reply, as Shinigami sliced through more victims. "'Routine mission', huh? This bites!"  
The former continued to blast his way through mobile suits. This was too much for them to handle. Unless...  
  
Heero began charging his Buster Rifle. With any luck, a well-placed shot would wipe out both a large number of the Virgos and the base.  
  
~~~  
  
The wind swept through the Japanese boy's mousy-brown locks, as he sped down the road on the motorcycle he had borrowed from Wufei. He didn't intend on going back to school that day, though he reasoned that he probably should have, if only to remain inconspicuous. Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at his destination.  
  
Dismounting from the bike, Heero walked through the two large, wrought iron gates and onto the premises. The vast field of velvety, green grass stretched out quite a fair way, and reflected a certain sense of peace and serenity. Autonomously, Heero walked over the neatly trimmed lawn, through the open emerald field. Eventually, he came to what he was looking for. The 01 pilot sat down next to a slab of concrete embedded in the field, leaning against an overhanging tree, and sighed.  
  
~Flashback...~  
  
Wing Zero raised its mighty Buster Rifle and began to lock on to a suitable target. By this time, the Deathscythe Hell had sustained a lot of damage. If the enemy sent many more rounds of ammunition its way, the pilot would be done for. The Gundam was now surrounded by the enemy Virgos, and was almost out of ammunition. There was no way Duo could slice his way out of this situation. He had to retreat, and fast - the suits were on the verge of sending him into oblivion.   
  
Heero squeezed back on the trigger and the Buster Rifle began to glow.  
  
Duo fired up the engines of his Gundam, and propelled himself backwards, taking several of the suits with him. It was only then that he realised he had jumped right into his friend's line of fire. By that time, it was too late- the Wing Zero pilot could only watch in horror as the blast engulfed Deathscythe Hell.  
"HEERO, HELP M-" the com-link went dead. There was a massive explosion.  
  
~~~  
  
Heero ran his fingers across the concrete slab next to him. On it, a name and details were inscribed:  
'Duo Maxwell  
Born ninth of February, AC 180   
Died seventeenth of July, AC 195  
Killed in action'  
"I tried to go to school today, Duo. I thought that maybe it would help to take my mind off it, but..."   
The perfect soldier stared out at the grassy field around him, marred only by the hundreds of other concrete slabs, each with names and dates.  
  
~~~  
  
"Heero, it wasn't your fault."  
"No-one could have predicted the turn of events. You did what anyone else in your position would've done."  
"Duo would have understood."  
  
~~~  
  
The kind words his friends had offered did nothing to ease the torment within Heero's soul. The feeling that had absorbed him was not one he had been trained to deal with, nor had he ever experienced it. It was a mixture of overwhelming grief and guilt, a sensation that refused to lift. It had been so long since any such feeling had resided in him, and for that matter, it had been many years since Heero allowed himself to show any emotion. But the death of his comrade was enough to make him hurt and crumble. For the first time in many moons, Heero's mask of indifference was discarded.   
"I'm so sorry Duo," he whispered, in a voice quivering with grief. "Please forgive me. You were my dearest friend... you... I wish this was all just a nightmare."  
  
But Heero knew that this was no mere dream. None of the apologies and prayers he offered could bring back his comrade.  
  
Heero Yuy had killed his best friend.  
  
_~*~_  
  
The war between the Earth and the colonies continued for several more months, until finally an agreement was reached. With the formation of the Earth Sphere United Nation, peace enveloped the two forces, and war became a thing of the past. However, there were many soldiers who lost their lives in the final battle between Earth and space on Christmas Eve of After Colony 195. This battle became known as 'The Eve Wars'  
  
A calm breeze swept through the trees, causing some of them to lose the odd leaf or two. In a cemetery, a tree's boughs swayed above the two graves beneath it. One of these graves belonged to a young, braided Gundam pilot who had been killed earlier in the year. The one next to it was only fresh, and on the concrete slab, the following verse was inscribed:  
'Heero Yuy  
Born on the twelfth of May, AC 180  
Died on the twenty-fourth of December, AC 195  
Killed in action'  
  
  
_~*OWARI*~_  
  
  
Heero and Duo: *glare at the author in a "how dare you kill me!" / "how dare you kill me AGAIN!" way*  
Friezaess: *sweatdrops* Please review! 


End file.
